WASHINGTON — Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Crescent Springs, waited until last Friday—11 days before the election—to endorse Donald Trump for president.
He announced his decision on social media, writing, “Donald Trump will put Americans first by securing our liberties at home and preventing needless wars abroad. He will Make America Healthy Again by empowering small farmers and taking on special interests that have corrupted our healthcare system.”
Massie is known for charting his own course in the Republican Party, for example, participating in a small and unsuccessful effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La, earlier this year.
When many Republicans backed Trump, Massie supported Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., for president.
In March, Massie accused Trump of using “bullying tactics” in Trump’s online post about Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla.
In June, Massie told Spectrum News, “I need to see some guarantees … Trump is endorsing non-conservatives in Republican primaries right now, so I can’t get behind that.”
When asked in September if he planned to endorse Trump, Massie told Spectrum News, “We’ll see.”
In a statement this week, Massie said he recently spoke with former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and with Trump, and “I came to the conclusion that this presidential election is too important for me not to weigh-in on.”
“I want to be part of the alignment that puts the focus back on regular people instead of corporations and bureaucracy,” Massie said.
University of Louisville political science professor Dewey Clayton said he was not sure what motivated Massie to finally back Trump in public, but he was not surprised by the endorsement.
“You are speaking of Representative Massie, who tends to revel in sort of being a renegade,” Clayton said. “It appears that former President Trump just has a hold on the Republican Party and even if people disagree with him, they ultimately end up sort of bending the knee.”
Kentucky’s junior U.S. senator, Republican Rand Paul, still hasn’t endorsed Trump.
He told Spectrum News in June he was supportive of the former president, but was looking for more from him on issues like the nation’s debt and civil liberties.